CIE IGCSE ECONOMICS MOST CHALLENGING QUESTIONSPaper 1 /5 0 votes, 0 avg 0450 IGCSE Economics Most Challenging Questions 2025 These are collections of most difficult MCQ questions for the 2025 exam year. On average, 50% of the candidates answered these questions wrongly. 1 / 5 0455_m12_2025_7 The price elasticity of demand for smartphones is believed to be −2.0. A manufacturer decides to cut prices by 10%. What will be the effect of this change in price? demand will fall by 20% demand will rise by 5% quantity supplied will remain unchanged revenue will increase 2 / 5 0455_m12_2025_14 A car-wash firm has 3 workers. Before specialisation, each worker washed 5 cars per day. After specialisation, 30 cars per day are washed. What is the percentage increase in productivity? 50% 100% 200% 600% 3 / 5 0455_m12_2025_30 A government wishes to reduce the surplus on the current account of its balance of payments. Which policy is likely to achieve this? cutting government spending devaluing its currency increasing existing import quotas increasing import duties 4 / 5 0455_m12_2025_20 The table shows the distribution of the working population in millions (m) in various sectors of an economy over two years. What can be concluded from the information? Less output was produced in the economy in year 2 than year 1. Fewer people were employed in the secondary sector in year 1 than year 2. More people were employed in the primary sector in year 2 than year 1. More people were employed in the tertiary sector in year 2 than year 1. 5 / 5 0455_m12_2025_27 A country has large reserves of oil. It decides to produce a wide range of goods rather than specialise in oil production. What is not an acceptable reason in support of this decision? Oil is a non-renewable resource that could be exhausted quickly Producing a wide range of goods increases the benefits from free trade. Relying on other countries for vital goods and services makes a country vulnerable. The price of oil is volatile, making export revenue unstable. Your score isThe average score is 44% 0% Restart quiz /5 0 votes, 0 avg 0450 IGCSE Economics Most Challenging Questions 2024 These are collections of most difficult MCQ questions for the 2024 exam year. On average, 50% of the candidates answered these questions wrongly. 1 / 5 0455_m12_2024_17 An economy is experiencing a period of deflation with lower output and rising unemployment. Which policy measure would the government be most likely to use to correct this? improve education and training increase interest rates reduce income tax reduce unemployment benefits 2 / 5 0455_m12_2024_6 For health reasons, consumers decide that they want to eat more vegetables and less meat. What price signals would the market system send to reallocate resources so that consumers get what they want? A B C D 3 / 5 0450_m12_2024_20 Three statements about policy measures are listed. 1 improved education and training 2 deregulation 3 reduction in the basic rate of income tax What are the supply-side policy measures that would enable the government to make the income distribution more equal? 1, 2 and 3 1 and 2 only 1 and 3 only 2 only 4 / 5 0450_m12_2024_27 Two countries wish to use their scarce resources to specialise in production and trade with each other. Under which conditions is this most likely to happen? A B C D 5 / 5 0455_m12_2024_29 The diagram shows the foreign exchange market for the Singapore dollar (S$) in exchange for the United States dollar (US$). The initial equilibrium point is at X. The following month, Singapore imports more goods from the US but there is no change in Singapore exports to the US. What is the new equilibrium point? A B C D Your score isThe average score is 49% 0% Restart quiz /11 0 votes, 0 avg 0450 IGCSE Economics Most Challenging Questions 2023 These are collections of most difficult MCQ questions for the 2023 exam year. On average, 50% of the candidates answered these questions wrongly. 1 / 11 0455_s13_2023_17 A government wishes to increase its spending on public goods. Which sector should have a spending increase to achieve this? education healthcare national defence railways 2 / 11 0450_s11_2023_18 Government policy measures can affect economic activity in a country. Which pair of monetary policy measures would be likely to increase employment? depreciate foreign exchange rates and increase education spending increase money supply and reduce interest rates provide subsidies and grants and lower sales tax reduce income tax and improve infrastructure 3 / 11 0450_s12_2023_30 Country X has a persistent deficit on the current account of the balance payments. Which policy measure is most likely to improve this situation? lowering import quotas lowering income tax lowering import tariffs lowering export subsidies 4 / 11 0450_s12_2023_17 A government decides to leave direct taxes unchanged but to increase indirect taxes. What is this policy intended to achieve? to increase the value of the exchange rate to redistribute income from higher to lower income groups to reduce a budget deficit to reduce the rate of inflation 5 / 11 0450_m12_2023_24 A government has a target of keeping inflation between 2% and 3%. The diagram shows the rate of inflation over a four-year period. What can be deduced from the diagram? The government target was missed in two years. The price level fell in two years. The price level was at its highest in the first year. The real value of money fell in three years. 6 / 11 0450_m12_23_27 The table shows figures for the real GDP of a country in a particular year. A quarter is three months. At the end of which quarter had the economy experienced a recession? quarter 1 quarter 2 quarter 3 quarter 4 7 / 11 0455_s13_2023_14 What is a likely reason why firms do not grow in size? External diseconomies of scale occur at high levels of output. Internal economies of scale occur at high levels of output. Internal economies of scale occur at low levels of output. Internal diseconomies of scale occur at low levels of output. 8 / 11 0450_s11_2023_16 What is the firm experiencing? constant returns to scale diseconomies of scale external diseconomies of scale external economies of scale 9 / 11 0455_s11_2023_15 The diagram shows a firm’s total cost (TC) curve. What is the average variable cost if the firm produces 10 units of output? $4 $5 $40 $50 10 / 11 0455_s11_2023_9 What would bring about a movement upwards along the supply curve for rice? a decrease in the productivity of farmworkers a decrease in the profitability of rice production an increase in consumers’ incomes an increase in farmworkers’ wages 11 / 11 0455_s11_2023_5 The diagram shows the effect of a decrease in price on the demand for a product. What does the arrow on the diagram illustrate? contraction in demand decrease in demand extension in demand increase in demand Your score isThe average score is 44% 0% Restart quiz
